Weep hole insert

ABSTRACT

An insert for positioning within a weep hole in a building foundation, permitting the passage of air while excluding insects. The insert includes a resilient, air-permeable pad having opposed sides. A gripping member is secured to each of the opposed sides of the pad. Each gripping member is a substantially rigid plate extending from the top of the pad to the bottom of the pad.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to static structures and, moreparticularly, to walls, ceilings, floors, and roofs designed forventilation and including a vent plug.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Special care must be taken in building stick-built homes to limit theexposure of their wooden components to moisture that can lead to rottingand premature loss. To this end, the framework comprising moststick-built homes is elevated above the surface of the ground by afoundation constructed of a more durable material like brick,cinderblock or concrete. Further, the crawl space formed within thefoundation beneath the wooden framework is usually ventilated to permitmoisture coming from the ground to evaporate into the air rather thancondense and be absorbed by surrounding woodwork. The vents or weepholes provided in a foundation for the passage of the air,unfortunately, tend to permit the entry of damaging insects such astermites into a home.

The problem of insects entering homes through weep holes has not goneunnoticed.

Numerous screens, grates and plugs have been proposed to permit thepassage of air through weep holes yet exclude insects. Most of theseproducts are complex in their construction, costly to manufacture, anddifficult to install without special tools—especially in older homes.

Because of these problems, many homeowners choose to rely upon chemicalbarriers to prevent insects from entering into their homes or to killthe insects once they have entered. In many cases, such reliance hasbeen found to be misplaced as the chemicals had a toxic effect upon thehuman inhabitants of the home.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In light of the problems associated with the known barriers forpreventing the passage of insects through weep holes in a buildingfoundation, it is a principal object of the invention to provide aproduct that is easy to insert into a weep hole of a building foundationand is fully effective in excluding insects from the building whilepermitting the relatively free flow of air through the weep hole. Theproduct can be installed in seconds without resort to specialized tools,adhesives, fasteners or prolonged periods of instruction. The product,in short, is simple and intuitive to use.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide an insertof the type described that can be employed with building foundationsystems of various sorts and can be configured for use with weep holesof varying dimensions. Should the insert be too long for a particularweep hole, it can be easily trimmed.

It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements andarrangements thereof in a weep hole insert for the purposes describedwhich is lightweight in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, longlived, and fully dependable in use.

Briefly, the weep hole insert in accordance with this invention achievesthe intended objects by featuring a resilient, air-permeable pad being atangle of interconnected filaments of sufficient density to prevent thepassage of termites through the pad yet permit the relatively free flowof air through the pad. One of a pair of gripping members is secured toa each of the opposed sides of the pad. Each of the gripping members isa substantially rigid plate extending the length of the pad and has anouter surface that is roughly textured to increase its grip upon asurface bounding a weep hole.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become readily apparent upon further review of thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment asillustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention may be more readily described with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a weep hole insert in accordance withthe present invention shown being cut by a pair of scissors.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a weep hole insert positioned withina vent in a foundation wall.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the weep hole insert being installedwithin a vent in a foundation wall.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the weep hole insert showing its side membersbeing compressed toward one another.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistentlythroughout the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the FIGS., a weep hole insert in accordance with thepresent invention is shown at 10. Insert 10 includes a pad 12 formed ofan air-permeable mat bounded on opposite sides by a pair of grippingmembers 14. The gripping members 14 are provided with indicia or rulings16 along their lengths indicating places where insert 10 can beconveniently divided into smaller segments 10 a having like functionalfeatures.

Pad 12 is a resilient tangle of interconnected filaments of sufficientdensity to prevent the internal passage of insects, such as termites,yet permit the relatively free flow of air. These filaments can be madeof any suitable material but are preferably plastic, known for itsresistance to insects and weather as well as its low cost. By way ofexample only, pad 12 could also be formed from fiberglass or steel wool.

The dimensions of pad 12 are variable. Pad 12 is provided with a heightthat is several times that of a typical weep hole 18, formed in afoundation wall 20 between a pair of adjacent bricks 22, so that insert10 can be cut into a number of segments 10 a capable of filling a numberof weep holes. Additionally, pad 12 is provided with a width that issomewhat greater than that of weep hole 18 such that it must becompressed for positioning within weep hole 18. The tendency of pad 12to spring back to its uncompressed configuration serves to anchor insertsegments 10 a within weep hole 18 during use.

Gripping members 14 are adhesively secured to the opposite sides of pad12. As shown, each of the gripping members 14 extends from the top tothe bottom of pad 12 and from the front to the back of pad 12. Grippingmembers 14 are thin, yet rigid, plates formed of plastic or othersuitable material. When squeezed together by the application of a lightforce as indicated by solid lines in FIG. 4, gripping members 14 evenlycompress pad 12 along its length.

The outer surfaces 24 of gripping members 14 are roughly textured. Thistexturing is best supplied by molding such into gripping members 14 sothat outer surfaces 24 are provided with a multitude of minute ridgesand valleys. On the other hand, the texturing could be supplied with theaddition of a granular material in the same way that abrasives areadhered to sandpaper. The texturing of outer surfaces 24 serves to boosttheir coefficient of friction and help prevent insert segment 10 a frombeing inadvertently dislodged from weep hole 18 during use.

Outer surfaces 24 of gripping members 14 are provided with indicia 16that aid a user in trimming insert 10. Indicia 16 may be provided uponouter surfaces by any suitable means like printing or molding.Regardless, indicia 16 are spaced from one another at intervalscorresponding with that of typical weep hole heights, i.e., the heightsof courses of bricks or cinderblocks.

The use of insert 10 is straightforward. First, the height of weep hole18 is measured and a segment 10 a of corresponding length is cut withscissors 26 from insert 10 with reference to indicia 16 or otherwise.Second, gripping members 14 are squeezed together, compressing pad 12.Then, insert segment 10 a is slid forward into weep hole 18 so that thefront of pad 12 is slightly recessed into wall 20 so that insert segment10 a cannot be accidentally bumped and dislodged from weep hole 18later. Next, insert segment 10 a is released from the grip of aninstaller thereby permitting pad 12 to expand and drive gripping members14 into bricks 22 and to lock insert segment 10 a within wall 20. Aircan now flow through insert segment 10 a and weep hole 18 to ventilatethe building of which wall 20 forms a part while insects are effectivelyexcluded from the building. While the entire installation processrequires only a few seconds to complete, its benefits last for years.

While the invention has been described with a high degree ofparticularity, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatmodifications may be made thereto. Therefore, it is to be understoodthat the present invention is not limited to the sole embodimentdescribed above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within thescope of the following claims.

1. A weep hole insert, comprising: a resilient, air-permeable pad havingopposed sides; and, a pair of gripping members, each being secured to arespective one of said opposed sides of said pad, each of said grippingmembers being a substantially rigid plate extending from the top of saidpad to the bottom of said pad.
 2. The weep hole insert according toclaim 1 wherein at least one of said gripping members is provided withan outer surface that is roughly textured to increase its coefficient offriction.
 3. The weep hole insert according to claim 1 wherein at leastone of said gripping members is provided with ruled markings to assistin the cutting said insert to length.
 4. A weep hole insert, comprising:a resilient, air-permeable pad being a tangle of interconnectedfilaments of sufficient density to prevent the passage of termitesthrough said pad yet permit the relatively free flow of air through saidpad, said pad having opposed sides; and, a pair of gripping members,each being secured to a respective one of said opposed sides of saidpad, each of said gripping members being a substantially rigid plateextending from the top of said pad to the bottom of said pad.
 5. Theweep hole insert according to claim 4 wherein said gripping members areeach provided with an outer surface that is roughly textured to increaseits grip upon a surface bounding a weep hole.
 6. The weep hole insertaccording to claim 4 wherein at least one of said gripping members isprovided with ruled markings to assist in trimming the length of saidweep hole insert.
 7. A weep hole insert, comprising: a resilient,air-permeable pad being a tangle of interconnected filaments, said padhaving opposed sides; and, a pair of gripping members, each beingsecured to a respective one of said opposed sides of said pad, each ofsaid gripping members being a substantially rigid plate extending fromthe top of said pad to the bottom of said pad, and each of said grippingmembers also having a roughly textured outer surface remote from saidpad.
 8. The weep hole insert according to claim 7 wherein at least oneof said gripping members is provided with ruled indicia to assist intrimming said weep hole insert.